So the FTC announced last week that the cost to access the national DNC list is going up.

I get it. Inflation.

But I also don’t get it.

The FTC collects millions in penalties. So does the FCC. Why isn’t this money put toward making the DNC list (and perhaps the RND for that matter) free to all?

I mean if we really want to stop unwanted robocalls–and we do–why not help to assure everyone has access to the data sets that can help protect consumers?

Anyway, speech over. Here are the deets from the FTC website:

The cost of accessing a single area code in the registry will be $78 in FY 2024, which is an increase of $3 from FY 2023. The maximum charge to any single entity for accessing all area codes nationwide is now $21,402 (up from $20,740 in FY 2023). The fee for accessing an additional area code for a half year will increase $1 from FY 2023, to $39.

So… there you go.